Stranger Sinema: The Frighteners

 

        "But what about the guy in the toilet?  What did HE do?!  Piss on your Hush Puppies?!"  - Agent Milton Danvers, accusing Frank Banister of one of Johnny Bartlett's murders, The Frighteners

            

Something Niche.Blogspot.com Presents...

Stranger 

Sinema

     Come one, come all to a midway of the most bizarre in pictures!  Journey into the unknown through the deepest depths of celluloid film!  Bear witness to some of the most unique and peculiar stories and characters!  Dive into a rabbit hole a leave behind your mundane world for a glimpse into the upside-down world...of Stranger Sinema!

    Welcome back, Young and Young-at-Heart explorers, to Stranger Sinema!  The show on Something Niche where we take a deep dive into the strange world of cult cinema, discovering the most madcap, bizarre, or just strangely obscure parts of the film world!

    On today's episode, we will be taking a journey back to the 1990s, the decade of skateboards, dial-up internet access, and cringy slang!  Here, we will be taking a peek at the early filmography of a man who would later push cinema into the CGI-laden blockbuster age.  But before he did that, he would spend some of his early days in the far-off land of New Zealand crafting works of low-budget horror schlock.

    However, the film we will be discussing today acts a s a turning point in this young Kiwi's career, as he would use his already-established familiarity with the horror genre to break out of his gory exploitation origins in order to create a higher-budgeted horror comedy with notable Hollywood A-listers and detailed CGI.  A film that, while it came and went with little fanfare during its initial theatrical run, has managed to amass a legion of adoring fans thanks to its ghastly, yet mischievous and strangely inviting atmosphere, high production values, fun cast, and ingenious premise.

    Today, as we continue to celebrate the Halloween season, we will be taking a look at Peter Jackson's The Frighteners.  A delightful supernatural comedy starring none other than the man who traveled time in a DeLorean himself, Mr. Michael J. Fox, as a supernatural con artist turned unlikely hero.  

    So, keep really close and don't fear the reaper as we set up our ghost-hunting equipment, as the barrier between life and death strains horrifically thin with The Frighteners!

Welcome, Foolish Mortals...

       Brought to us in 1996 by future Middle-Earth Maestro Peter Jackson, and following in the tradition of Ghostbusters and Beetlejuice, The Frighteners is a comedic take on the haunted house story.  Taking center stage is Michael J. Fox as Frank Bannister (pictured above), a man who finds himself with the ability to communicate with the spirits of the dead after a traumatic car crash that took the life of his better half.  Cheekily, Frank decides to use his newfound abilities to hatch the ultimate scam!  He teams up with a selection of kooky spirits consisting of Atomic Age nerdy boy Stuart (played by Jim Fyfe), walking 70s Blaxploitation film Cyrus (played by Chi McBride) and Old West bounty hunter Judge (played by the original Addams patriarch himself, John Astin) in order set up staged hauntings that he will then cleanse for a price!

    However, Frank's already abnormal life goes from strange to stranger as a number of locals start to die in strangely similar ways.  Eventually, after being suspected of mass murder, he soon comes to the realization that these strange deaths are the doing of Johnny Charles Bartlett (made even scarier by the already zombie-like Jake Busey), a ghost who was a notorious mass shooter in life and is trying to break a serial-killing record.  Frank must now set out to bring Bartlett's bloody reign of terror to an end while clearing his name.  

    Along the way, Frank finds new companionship within Dr. Lucy Lynskey (played by Trini Alvarado), whose husband Ray (played with surprising sadness by Peter Dobson) has become one of Bartlett's victims.  He also crosses path with the insane FBI Agent Milton Dammers (brought to unhinged life by Miskatonic University Alumni Jeffrey Combs), who has him as his prime suspect.  Frank must now protect his new lady friend while simultaneously battling the supernatural and a living paranoid lunatic in this film that flip flops seamlessly between quirky surreal comedy and intriguing supernatural mystery!

Who's Playing Tricks on Me?

    As noted just above, The Frighteners was an early work of Peter Jackson, and quite a departure from the big special effects extravaganzas he would later be known for, as you can see.  However, if you look at some of his earlier work, you shouldn't be too surprised!

    During his early days as an indie filmmaker in his native New Zealand, Peter Jackson was well-versed in the horror genre, where he directed many gory schlockfests such as Bad Taste and the now-infamous Dead Alive (originally known as Braindead in its home country).  However, not far into his career, Jackson's output would start to quickly shift; in 1994, he directed and co-wrote the psychological drama Heavenly Creatures (and potential future topic of Stranger Sinema!), inspired by an infamous New Zealand murder case that occurred in the 1950s.  The film earned Jackson an Academy Award nomination for Best Screenplay and served as a turning point in his filmmaking career.

    During production on Heavenly Creatures, Mr. Jackson first conceived The Frighteners with a screenplay that was co-written by his wife Fran Walsh.  After the breakout acclaim of Heavenly Creatures, Jackson would shoot his early script for The Frighteners to several major studios.  

    The script eventually found its way to the desk of Robert Zemeckis, a Hollywood filmmaker who had already become a household name at that point, having directed popular and influential works such as the Back to the Future trilogy and Who Framed Roger Rabbit, as well as winning an Oscar for his work on Forrest Gump the same year Heavenly Creatures was nominated.  He had also found success in the producer's chair, having been one of the main showrunners for the popular (and now iconic) horror cable series Tales from the Crypt.  

    As a matter of fact, Zemeckis had initially planned to produce Jackson's script as a tie-in movie for the television series.  However, he eventually saw that the film had potential to work on its own merits and decided to allow Jackson to make it a stand-alone film.  He had considered fellow supernatural filmmaking weirdos Tim Burton (Beetlejuice) and Sam Raimi (The Evil Dead) for the director's chair briefly.  However, Jackson ultimately volunteered to direct himself; a decision that seemed to have ultimately benefitted the movie, as we will now elaborate on!

Stirring up Scares

    Production for The Frighteners proved to be a rather unusual undertaking for Jackson, Zemeckis, and distributors Universal Pictures.  Rather than being a domestic effort, as was the case for many Hollywood films at the time, the film was shot almost entirely on location in Jackson's native New Zealand, despite the film taking place in California in-universe!  Jackson was granted full permission to do work there by Zemeckis so long as he and the production designers could manage to make the movie's sets perfectly resemble a normal Anytown, USA.

    "Working with Bob Zemeckis and the caliber of this cast in my home country in New Zealand has been an unbelievable experience", Jackson noted in a press interview.  "We're making a ghost story that takes so many twists and turns you begin to believe anything is possible.  And everything is scary.  Fear, like your imagination, has no limits."

    For the cast, Michael J. Fox had always been the number one choice and only actor approached to play the film's lead.  Fox would turn down the lead in a then-upcoming (and ultimately poorly received) film adaptation of The Island of Dr. Moreu to star as Frank Bannister.  However, during production, being so far away from his family took a toll on his mental health, and after production had wrapped, he decided to switch his focus to television in order to spend more time with them.  He would take a role on the sitcom Spin City for the next few years afterwards.

    However, shortly after his run on that show, Fox started to suffer from the effects of early-onset Parkinson's Disease, which would ultimately contribute to his semi-retirement from live-action filmmaking, though he has since done voice work for films such as Stuart Little and Disney's Atlantic: The Lost Empire.  He would open up more about living with this disease during the 2000s and would establish the Michael J. Fox Foundation in an effort to fund research towards treatment of the disease.  His journey would later be chronicled in the documentary film Still: A Michael J. Fox Film.

    But back to the topic at hand.  Other notable cast members included horror veteran Jeffrey Combs, who steals the show as secondary antagonist Milton Dammers (pictured above in a memorable death scene).  Jackson cast Combs in the film as he had always wanted to work with him after seeing his performance in Re-Animator.  Combs added several of his character's defining characteristics and body language, such as having an apparent hemorrhoid problem, as well as requesting prosthetics for his ears that made them stick out unnaturally.  And yes, his hairdo was purposefully made to resemble that of a certain infamous German dictator.

    In addition to the cast members noted at the start of this article, the film also cast Dee Wallace the girlfriend and accomplice to Johhny Bartlett, Patrica Hearst.  This was done as a subversion to the good girl roles she had become known for at that point.  The late great former military drill instructor turned character actor R. Lee Ermy also has a major supporting role in the film as the spectral enforcer of a local cemetery who frequently butts heads with Frank.

     There were two different notable phases of filming.  The first focused on the living characters, including Fox, Alvardo, and Wallace, who did not require CGI to depict.  After that came the filming of the ghost actors, such as Ermy, McBride, Astin, Fyfe, and Busey, who's performances were augmented with CGI in post in order to give them the bluish spectral tint we see in the film.  These effects were done in Jackson's own in-house special effects studio, Weta Digital, who had previously provided visual effects for Heavenly Creatures and would go on to work on the likes of Avatar and District 9, among many, many others.

    When the film was submitted to the MPAA, Jackson and Zemeckis were anticipating a PG-13 rating.  However, the film was granted an R, likely owing to several humorous moments of body horror among the ghosts depicted in several early scenes.  After attempting multiple edits, Jackson eventually gave up and stuck with the film's imposed R rating.  He even refilmed the death scene of Milton Dammers in order to make it more graphic to accommodate (as depicted in the still above).

Ghosted Upon Release

        After the film was finally compiled together, The Frighteners rose to walk the earth on July 19th, 1996...just in time to be overshadowed by the opening of the Centennial Summer Olympics in Atlanta that same day.  The film wound up tripping at the starting gate, and by the end of its run, only barely managed to make its $26 million in costs back with a $29 million gross.  

    As mentioned, the film had the misfortune of opening on the same day as the Summer Olympics, something that certainly kept several potential moviegoers on their couches.  It also likely didn't help that the film had the misfortune of going up against the likes of Twister and Independence Day, both of which were practically holding the box office hostage at the time.

    Initially, Peter Jackson had wanted the movie to open closer to the Halloween season, something that could have certainly benefited the film's publicity and given it less competition compared to the crowded summer blockbuster season.  However, distributor Universal Pictures ignored his request, on account of not having a major tentpole release for the summer blockbuster season at the time.

    Jackson also blamed the movie's failure on poor marketing.  He especially blamed the film's main theatrical release poster, which didn't even depict any of the film's stars.  All that was shown on the poster was a skeletal face bulging out of a white background with the tagline "Dead Yet?"  Jackson felt that this said nothing about what the movie was, which certainly left a lot of moviegoers in the dark.

    Despite this, reviews were generally favorable from the get-go.  Critics favorably compared the film to the likes of Ghostbusters and Beetlejuice, while also praising the film's performances, atmosphere, and sophisticated for its time special effects, though a few were put off by the film's more over-the-top moments.  The film would also be nominated for multiple Saturn Awards, including one for Jeffery Combs' performance.  This generally positive word-of-mouth likely contributed to the film achieving a second life in home media and cable television, and eventually, its resurgence during the internet age!

Resurrected From Obscurity

    Indeed, although it had already established a cult following beforehand, much like a lot of cult classics from the era of video rental places, The Frighteners seems to have gained a growing fanbase as nostalgic horror fanatics have continued to take to the Internet in order to share their favorite pieces of forbidden fruit to the uninitiated new generation.  

    If you were to visit the likes of YouTube or Facebook, you'll find no shortage of 30 to 40 somethings discussing their old comfort movies amongst each other.  Plenty of video essays and retrospectives have been made on the internet about the film and its cult status, with many of them often saying the same positive quirks about the film, be it the unique concept, memorable acting performances, or even just it's fun atmosphere.  All of these videos have certainly allowed the film to be introduced to a growing legion of young fans who have managed to unearth this obscure antique of 90s cheese and find enjoyment with it.

    And having re-watched the film for the purpose of this retrospective, I can certainly see why!  Although some parts of the film-particularly much of the CGI-have become rather outdated, The Frighteners is not only a fun and spooky romp that's sure to please crowds for the Halloween season (or any time of the year, really!), but it's also a film that has a surprising amount of heart and emotion.  This is especially noticeable through its protagonist Frank Bannister, who we see go through a full-blown arc throughout the movie, starting as a rather cowardly and slightly selfish individual who is unwittingly forced into circumstances beyond his control, but eventually managing to face both his literal and metaphorical demons and become a much stronger, more confident man.  Much of his character traits and development even parallel that of Peter Vincent from our previous subject Fright Night!  

    

    And there's also another thing this movie shares in common with Fright Night; distinctly menacing-but charismatic-villains!  Befitting his lineage of borderline-insane character actors, Gary Busey has the time of his life playing the charismatically scummy Johnny Bartlett, even if it's mostly though digital enhancements and flashbacks.  Every single line that comes out of his mouth gives off the only kind of mix of black comedy and pure menace that could only be found with movies like this.  His strange features and ghastly, clownlike facial expressions also give Johnny a perfect first impression to match the character's dark soul, and you'll be just as intimidated by his presence by the end of the film as the cast is!  He practically manages to combine the best part of Jerry Dandridge and Evil Ed into one character!

    But there's also Jeffrey Combs' crazed performance as Milton Danvers, which paints the portrait of an unpredictable loon you wouldn't want to share a room with.  Not only does Danvers get some of the best lines in the movie, but he arguably becomes even more of a menace than Johnny, with his questionable ethics, general disdain towards Frank, and cartoonish reactions manage to create a character that's one part Dick Dastardly, one part Officer Tenpenny.  He's the perfect character you'll love to hate!

    But above all, The Frighteners is a story that ultimately inspires us to not take life for granted.  We see Frank leave his old life of scamming the common folk behind as he does through his tantalizing journey, and by the end, we see him become a better man who becomes a protector and lover for Lucy, like all men should strive to be!  This movie might also be one of the few works of fiction that'll make you feel bad for the undead!

    But perhaps what's the real amazing thing about this movie is how, despite its initial shortcomings, it would ultimately pave the way for a lot of good to come within the industry.  After this movie, Peter Jackson would not only make the impossibly popular Lord of The Rings trilogy, but he would also be offered a chance to work on a dream project; a new version of King Kong, even though production issues wouldn't make that particular dream a reality until 2005.  His special effects company, Weta Digital, as mentioned early, has also become a top-tier company within the industry, rivaling the likes of Industrial Light and Magic in terms of profile and prestige.  Furthermore, it would also lead to a massive change in how the industry would make movies, as plenty of other notable blockbusters would follow in this film's footsteps and film scenes in New Zealand, with popular films such as The Last Samurai, Avatar, The Meg, and The Power of the Dog all taking advantage of its unique beauty and atmosphere.

    Several cast members have also looked back fondly on the film, in particular Dee Wallace, who found comfort and support from Jackson after the death of her husband and fellow performer Christopher Stone during the film's production.  Jackson provided a lot of financial help for Wallace as she flew between New Zealand and America as she planned and held her husband's memorial services.  Reflecting on that experience, Dee Wallace stated that the production office would tell her "This is Peter's gift to you.  He's going to take care of this Dee."  "And that's who he is.  He's a great director, and he's also a creative genius, but he's just a beautiful human being.", Wallace reflects.

Freakish Fun Facts

    Now, we once again come to Freakish Fun Facts!  The segment of this show where we share with you some strange behind the scenes facts and trivia (apart from what we just showed above) with you, our lovely audience!

• Legendary supernatural score composer Danny Elfman signed on to create the score for the movie.  He signed on without reading the script simply because he wanted to work with Peter Jackson after seeing Heavenly Creatures.

• Both Johnny Bartlett and Patricia Hearst took inspiration from real life criminals.  Patrica took her name from Patty Hearst, a hostage of the Symbionese Liberation Army who was brainwashed into robbing banks.  Meanwhile, Johnny Bartlett's modus operandi was heavily inspired by 1950s serial killer Charles Starkweather, who he even refers to by name.

• While on set, Michael J. Fox would frequently call John Astin's character "Doc" by mistake, likely referencing the character's resemblance to his Back to the Future co-star Christopher Llyod's character in both appearance and role in the film.  It's also possible he may have thought that the character may have shared his name with famous Wild West gunman Doc Holiday, who was in the public eye at the time from the late Val Kilmer's portrayal in Tombstone.

• In another connection to Back to the Future, Frank crashes through a white picket fence at one point in the film, which Fox's character Marty also did in the former film!  Fox also did this at one point in Doc Hollywood!

• After filming had wrapped Lucy's actress Trini Alvarado was given a Barbie doll that was made to resemble her character as a gift.  This was actually meant to be a gag gift as a reference to the fact that Lucy wore the same outfit for the entire second half of the movie!

• During the (surprisingly emotional) scene where Ray's ghost watches his own funeral, you can see Frank's house in flames in the background.  This was because this particular scene was filmed late into production, and the crew was in the process of burning down the facade.

• Although the film still had a wide release in Australia, it wasn't shown there in the state of Tasmania.  This was because of the Port Arthur Massacre, a horrific mass shooting that had just occurred there at the time and that the film was negatively compared to.

It's Holy Water!

    So, in the end, while it may not have acquired the same amount of spotlight that the likes of Ghostbusters and Beetlejuice achieved, The Frighteners is still a fun, stylish supernatural comedy in it's own right!

    Despite its American setting, it's New Zealand-based film manages to add a nice degree of personality to the film, and its cinematography manages to create a mise-en-scene that manages to simultaneously be filled to the brim with fun and scares!

    The film's cast is practically perfect, and it brings to life some of the most underrated characters in cinematic history!

    But above all, it manages to do all that and somehow become something that most horror films don't really plan to be heartwarming.  It's ultimately a tale of living your life to the best, and not to let fear hold you back.  It has plenty of scenes that almost bring a tear to my eye, and the film's tone and sense of fun keep me coming back to it nearly every Halloween!

    Plus, as an added bonus, despite its initial box office woes, the film's rave reviews and legion of cult fans have played a positive role in the lives of many of its cast and crew.  In particular director Peter Jackson, who was able to build his skill further and eventually come back to cinema stronger than before with his journeys to Middle-Earth and beyond!  In a way, it paved the way for cinema to be changed forever, and it deserves recognition for that alone!

   

    And with that, tonight's showing has concluded.  Please leave all trash in the wastebaskets at the front of the auditorium and share your thoughts on our showing in the comments section down below!

    Have a great night, drive safe, and above all else, don't be afraid to be a little strange!

Sources:

Bartle, Trisha. “‘The Frighteners’ (1996): 35 Fascinating Film Facts and Trivia.” Creepy Catalog, Creepy Catalog, 13 May 2022, creepycatalog.com/frighteners-trivia-and-facts/.

Foundation, Michael J. Fox. “Michael’s Story.” The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research | Parkinson’s Disease, 2025, www.michaeljfox.org/michaels-story.

Hansen, Johanna. “20 Movies Filmed in New Zealand → The Ultimate List.” Campervan New Zealand, Campervan New Zealand, 29 Sept. 2023, www.campervannewzealand.co.nz/blog/about-new-zealand/movies-filmed-in-zew-zealand.

Harris, Jeffrey. “Even Though Peter Jackson’s 1996 Horror Movie with Michael J. Fox Flopped Hard at the Box Office - It’s Absolutely Worth Your Attention.” Collider, Collider, 27 Apr. 2025, collider.com/peter-jackson-michael-j-fox-the-frighteners-cult-classic-another-chance/.

Kurland, Daniel. “How Peter Jackson’s the Frighteners Was Almost a Tales from the Crypt Movie.” ScreenRant, Screen Rant, 21 Oct. 2020, screenrant.com/peter-jackson-frighteners-almost-tales-crypt-movie-reason/.

News, BBC. “Entertainment | Peter Jackson: King of the Rings.” BBC News, BBC, 1 Mar. 2004, news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3429373.stm.

Polowy, Kevin. “‘the Frighteners’ at 25: Dee Wallace Gets Emotional Recounting Peter Jackson’s Incredible Act of Kindness.” Yahoo!, Yahoo!, 19 July 2021, www.yahoo.com/entertainment/the-frighteners-dee-wallace-peter-jackson-story-150041912.html.

Scouts LLC, Film. “The Frighteners-Production Notes.” Film Scouts, 1996, www.filmscouts.com/scripts/matinee.cfm?Film=frighte&File=product.